Responsible selling
We believe responsible selling starts with clear, open and honest dialogue with customers, so we treat every interaction with a customer as an opportunity to deliver the best customer experience, and calls are monitored randomly to ensure that agents in our call centres provide a high-quality service every time.
In the USA, agents proactively call customers a few days after a purchase to welcome them to Aviva, ensure they are happy with their new coverage and the service they received, and answer any questions. Feedback on this ‘Welcome Call’ programme shows a 95% ‘good-to-excellent’ rating to date.
Aviva continues to invest in staff training and coaching to ensure agents have the tools and skills to identify each customer’s specific needs, and confidently advise on suitable products and services.
In Sri Lanka, Eagle Insurance sales staff undergo extensive training at the first in-company centre outside the UK to be recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and top performers regularly receive further overseas training on sales, marketing and customer care techniques. To minimise the possibility of mis-selling unit-linked products, recently introduced to the Sri Lankan market, only those agents who undertake company training are licensed to sell such products directly to customers.
Aviva Australia was ranked first in the 2007 Taylor Life Insurance Industry Survey, which questions more than 1,600 protection advisers in order to benchmark the leading life insurance providers. The company’s five-star rating, and particularly strong results in the ‘underwriting speed’, ‘timeliness of processing applications’ and ‘partnerships and relationships’ categories, confirms Aviva’s place as a market leader in service delivery.
Case study
Growing goodwill in emerging markets
Aviva-COFCO, our joint venture in China, was awarded the ‘Best Service Foreign-Funded Insurance Company’ in a financial management survey conducted by SOHU, one of China’s largest websites. The company also received the accolade of ‘Most Competitive Multinational Company in China’ at the first China and Foreign Multinational CEO roundtable conference held in Beijing.
Case study
Responsible selling at Aviva Canada
“Insurance is a necessity but we don’t assume our customers are fully aware of their insurance needs,” says Victoria Carter, Vice President, Call Centre Operations for the Corporate Partnerships Division at Aviva Canada. “We strive to deliver an unprecedented customer experience through knowledgeable, talented, trusted and highly valued employees delivering excellent service across all customer touch-points.”
A key area of focus is to identify customers’ needs at every interaction. This ensures customers are offered the products that best suit their requirements. An important part is to ensure customers are provided with a clear understanding of the insurance coverage available to them and which options best suit their needs. This helps customers feel comfortable with their purchase decision.
However, the customer experience does not end with the purchase of a policy. To deepen relationships with customers, agents call them a few days after their purchase to welcome them to Aviva. During this call, agents ensure customers have the right insurance coverage and answer any questions regarding their policy, their welcome package or their billing schedule. Agents also ask for customers’ feedback on their overall service experience.
The Welcome Call Programme was implemented to improve brand awareness, customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. Feedback from the Welcome Call Programme to date shows a 95% good to excellent rating. One customer provided the following feedback on the service received from adviser Arshad Desai: “There is something different about you. Other companies seem to see me as just another person while you took the time to explain everything.”
The promise of superior service and suitable products is backed by Aviva’s investment in staff training. This is critical to ensuring agents are able to confidently advise customers. The team also monitors calls randomly and runs underwriting checks to ensure agents are meeting customer experience guidelines.
Links
- Read more about how our regions lead the way in responsible selling
- United Kingdom
- Asia Pacific